Department of English - Northwestern University

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Northwestern Now’s recommended reading list of 10 books published in 2024 by Northwestern faculty includes three from the English department: Reg Gibbon’s Three Poems, Natasha Trethewey’s The House of Being, and Tristram Wolff’s translation of his grandmother’s Background for Love.

Professor Helen Thompson is the recipient of a 2025-26 Dibner Distinguished Fellowship in the History of Science and Technology at The Huntington Library. During her time there, she will work on her book project, “Artifice: Science and Antirealism, 1665 – 1695.”

Professor Susannah Gottlieb’s “Auden and the Muse of History” (2023 finalist for the Pegasus Award for Poetry Criticism) has been shortlisted for the Modernist Studies Association's Book Prize.

Columbia University has announced the election of three new members to the 19-person Pulitzer Prize Board, a group that includes Natasha Trethewey, herself a 2007 Pulitzer Prize recipient.

As part of the Conversations with the Dean Faculty Speaker Series, Chris Abani and Dean Adrian Randolph discuss “ubuntu,” a concept that recognizes our interconnectedness, the importance of an English major in today’s world, and the Program in African Studies, which holds the largest collection of African and Africana books and artifacts outside of Africa.

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An interview with Suzanne Scanlon (MFA+MA Northwestern, 2023) about her 2024 book, Committed: On Meaning and Madwomen, appeared in New York Magazine's The Cut

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Our Programs

Undergraduate

Creative Writing

The Creative Writing Major is one of the first and finest undergraduate programs of its kind in the country. Its reputation is based on accomplishments of its graduates, the generosity of its professors, and a pedagogy that creates a fruitful symbiosis between close reading and inventive writing.

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English Literature

Being an English literature major at Northwestern means reading literature that’s been circulating across more than 1000 years of history and nearly every the continent of the globe, and the skills you learn will help prepare you for virtually any career you can think of.

Why Study English?
The Major and Minor in English literature
English Literature Advisors
Pursuing Honors in English

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Graduate

Litowitz MFA+MA in English and Creative Writing

This program offers intimate classes, the opportunity to pursue both creative and critical writing, and close mentorship by renowned faculty in poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction. Our three-year curriculum gives students time to deepen both their creative writing and their study of literature. Students complete two degrees concurrently --an MFA in Creative Writing and an MA in English.

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MA in English Literature

Designed to be completed in one year and flexible in its requirements, our Master's in Literature allows students considerable freedom in choosing courses in English and in related disciplines. Most are planning to move on to Doctoral study elsewhere, improve their credentials as teachers in secondary schools and community colleges, or to take their experience into the business and publishing sectors.

About the Master's degree program

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PhD in English Literature

Our PhD program offers advanced study and research in literary history, criticism, and theory, with excellent opportunities for study between both disciplines and departments. Courses within the department cover major genres, periods, authors, and a broad range of methodological and theoretical approaches. Significant support in professional development and on the job market are cornerstones of the program.